


Which face does she see when she looks in the mirror?

by Minne_My



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Baking, Dark Magic, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Sisters, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23860972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minne_My/pseuds/Minne_My
Summary: Ada & Agatha are identical twins but one is destined to outlive the other
Relationships: Agatha Cackle & Ada Cackle, Hecate Hardbroom/Ada Cackle
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Agatha and Ada Cackle thought they'd be inseparable for their whole lives. Fate did not have that in mind for them.

It started the first night they'd spent apart. The first crack in their connection when the sorting hat weighed up young Agatha Cackle's character and announced her as a

_'Slytherin!'_

She beamed proudly and skipped off to the table of new housemates. She made sure to save a seat for her sister and waited expectedly.

The sorting hat descended upon young Ada Cackle and both souls held their breath. Ada's world crumbled when the voice declared her to be a

_'Hufflepuff!'_

Their eyes met over shared panic, their hearts skipped a beat and splintered while Ada had no choice but to walk to the table containing her new existence, a path that would change her life forever. Neither of them could see each other from where they were and both spent their first evening in tears.

To their relief, they could cling onto each other in lessons but soon enough, their lives were overtaken by the demands of their new allegiances. Agatha started to enjoy being part of the dungeon crew, it appealed to her secretive nature. She was her own person now, no Ada to hold her back. She felt invincible.

Ada knew that everything had changed when Agatha tried to twist her way in. Nothing would induce Ada to give up the secrets of the cosy Hufflepuff common room, her loyalty now lying firmly with her house. It was the first time that she felt unsafe around her sister. Their mischievous games ceased. No longer would they play the game of the identical twin, no longer would they greet each other with a common expression. Those days were gone.

When they went home, everyone noticed how different the girls were now and Agatha relished it. She had swept off into the horizon as soon as she graduated, leaving Ada behind to be the dutiful daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Ada Cackle was a hopeless romantic. Her sister used to tease her for it but Agatha hadn't been around to mock her for a long time now. She had no concern for relationships and romance, deriding them as foolish concepts. Still Ada trudged on with her life, believing that one day it might just happen for her, happily read her trashy books in the bath and enjoyed the sight of Valentines flowers even though she was the never the recipient. She never thought it would come in the shape of one of her colleagues.

Hecate Hardbroom was an enigma. Tall and mysteriously reserved, sparing with words. She worked in a different department, three floors down. They often sat at the same table in the canteen to drink their tea but rarely conversed. Ada found her standoffish but not unpleasantly so and beyond offering her a biscuit every time, did not encroach on her time. She sensed that Miss Hardbroom was somewhat shy. Hecate was more observant than Ada realised, noting the monogrammed handkerchief she carried with her and the exact shade of pink of jumper she wore. The red ring on her index finger and the way she absentmindedly dunked her biscuits into her tea. She secretly thought it was charming but wouldn't have thought to mention it. She liked that the other woman kept a comfortable silence where most people would just chatter incessantly.

The atmosphere in the building changed the hour that the news broke. She saw Hecate standing by a table reading a newspaper and sat down with her usual greeting. She was surprised when Hecate looked up and stumbled back, knocking her cup of tea over. Ada saw fear in her eyes and didn't realise why. She took out her handkerchief and started mopping up the spilt tea.

'Miss Hardbroom, is everything alright?'

Hecate's eyes were drawn down to the handkerchief with the initials. A.C. Ada didn't know why. The back of her neck prickled and she looked around. Half the canteen was looking at her in a most unfriendly manner.

'What's the matter?'

Hecate silently handed the newspaper over in answer. The headline and picture on the front page gave Ada a shock that felt almost painful. Now she knew why Hecate had looked afraid, had glanced at her handkerchief, why there were whispers stealing around the room. Except it wasn't her. That face was hers but it wasn't her. The name so similar yet not hers.

'That's her' another other woman nearby whispered. Ada didn't know who she was. She realised that she'd never told Hecate her name. 'This isn't me.' Her voice shook, her mouth felt dry, ashamed at the tears that were ready to fall. She didn't understand the desperation at which she was trying to assure Miss Hardbroom who looked like she'd been turned into stone. Ada turned tail and fled, trying to shake off the stares and whispers. She felt as if they were about to turn on her, hunt her down and tear her to pieces.

Arthur Weasley saw her coming and ushered her into his office. He was a kindly line manager and not prone to hysterics inspired by public panic. She thrust the newspaper into his hands imploring him to read but he shook his head at her without looking. He'd seen it.

'I will support you in any way I can but I don't know that it's safe for you to work in the office, Ada. I'm going to organise an escort back home and I will send you work by owl for the time being. This is serious. You may need protection.'

Ada couldn't process it. What her sister had done, how it would impact on the rest of the family, she had never thought...

'I never thought she'd go this far' she whispered.

Arthur Weasley studied the distraught face, so alike to the one in the paper but so different. Ada had much kinder eyes. He thought very highly of her and wanted to save her from any grief over her sister's affiliations.

A knock broke their concentration.

Miss Hardbroom was at the door. She held out the now dry handkerchief with Ada's forgotten cup of tea.

'You forgot this.'

She still looked wary but handed them over directly.

'Thanks Hecate' said Arthur wearily.

Ada could only think of one thing to say. She looked up at Hecate.

'My name is Ada.'

For a few seconds, the other woman stayed frozen. Then the tension in her shoulders dropped ever so slightly. She apologised for being so foolish. When the same face from the newspaper that she'd sat with for the last year had strolled in and acted as if nothing had happened, when the initials A.C. had jumped out at her in the handkerchief that she'd seen so many times, she'd jumped to conclusions.

Ada nodded. Hecate surprised herself with a most uncharacteristic gesture and put her hand on her shoulder. Ada felt a surge of warmth flow through her and inexplicably felt her heart lift, just a fraction.

'I'll call Kingsley and he will escort you home. Gather anything you need. But under no circumstances are you being dismissed, nor are you in disgrace. I just want to spare you from what will come next.'

Ada could only nod, not trusting herself to speak.

The shame of knowing that her sister had pledged her allegiance to the Dark Lord was overwhelming. Agatha had been insolent in court and had been dispatched to Azkaban for a life sentence for her role in the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom. It was a dark day for the Cackle family.

Ada curled up in her armchair and cried for a week, only being interrupted by her hungry cats and her next-door neighbour, Miss Bat. Gwen had known the Cackle twins since they were born and had shook her head sorrowfully over the path that Agatha had chosen. After Ada had been treated very coldly in public, Gwen offered to do the shopping to spare her the humiliation. She assured her that she would not hesitate in defending Ada in the face of public opinion. Pendell and Morgana made sure to keep close and lick the tears from her face at frequent moments. They never left her side every night and Ada appreciated it more than she could show.

When Gwen next visited, she brought a basket of lemon biscuits.

'You didn't have to.'

'They're not from me. They were tucked into the corner next to the door. I've done the requisite spells to check that they are safe. I don't know who the note is from, hopefully you do.'

It was short and to the point. It was signed _Hecate Hardbroom_. Ada felt the treacherous tears spill over at being thought of by a woman she barely knew.

'Just a reminder that not everyone is shunning you' Gwen reminded her gently. It was something Ada would never forget, even when the delivery boy had spat at her when she crossed his path. She just had to ride it out.


	3. Chapter 3

Hecate Hardbroom had quietly entered her life and now Ada couldn't imagine being without her. She, along with Gwen, was the buffer against the storm that engulfed Ada in the following months. After that first delivery of the most delicious lemon biscuits that Gwen and Ada had ever tasted, she'd responded to Ada's thanks by keeping up correspondence by owl. They conducted an easy friendship through letters and when Arthur judged that Ada could return to the office, resumed their midmorning tea breaks. Only this time, they started talking in person. The more Ada learned about her, the more she wanted to get closer to her. The age difference didn't matter when Ada seemed to be the only person that could make Hecate smile, make her talk a little longer. She found out that Hecate had been sorted into Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. Hecate looked forward to seeing her every day and when Ada tentatively invited her over for the weekend, Hecate was happy to accept. She arrived with a basket of raspberry and pistachio pastries and instantly charmed Gwen and the cats.

'You really should set up a bakery' said Gwen, daintily popping another pastry in her mouth. 'These are so marvellous, I just can't stop eating them.'

Hecate busied herself by making a fuss of the cats. They adored her on sight and Ada gave her permission to thoroughly spoil them. She looked up and saw Ada smiling at her. Most surprisingly, she blushed.

'Thank you for the most wonderful weekend' she said as she was leaving.

'We've very much enjoyed your company. You are so welcome to come and visit whenever you like. I hope you do.'

Ada looked up at her with that lovely smile and Hecate felt like her heart was skipping faster. She took her time to answer.

'I will.'

It took a while for people to start to talk to her normally again, satisfied that her she wasn't secretly harbouring Death Eater tendencies. Gwen made sure to chastise everyone on her behalf.

'As if you think Ada Cackle could ever be one of those scum' she'd retort. She'd even made sure that the delivery boy had tripped over into a puddle on one occasion. Spitting was a filthy habit, she declared. Hecate smirked at that.

Ada hadn't realised just how much she'd fallen for Hecate until she invited her to stay for Christmas. Hecate objected when Ada gave up her bed for her guest but Ada would not be swayed.

'You can't possibly think I will invite someone to stay and give them the sofa to sleep on. That is abject rudeness.'

'It doesn't matter to me.'

'Absolutely not.'

Hecate had a good night's sleep in her borrowed bed and repaid her hostess with as much baking as she could do. They went walking in the snow and curled up with the cats and both wished that the week would never end. End it did but not before staying up all of new year's eve with the radio and the firelight for company.

'Ada. I've had the most wonderful holiday. I can't thank you enough.'

Ada looked over. Hecate was soft and inviting, swathed in cat and a shy smile.

'I'm so glad. I can't tell you how grateful I am for your kindness.'

Hecate seemed to think about saying something but stayed silent, fingers roving through purring black fur. To Ada's surprise, she found her reading in bed the next morning, one of Ada's trashy romance novels. Hecate had started to join her for breakfast in her pyjamas but never had she lingered in bed. She looked up as Ada brought her a cup of tea, the cats wreathing around her ankles. They had stuck to Ada when she slept on the sofa, warming her feet in a bundle of tangled limbs.

'I didn't realise you liked these.'

'I don't. I just wondered what you saw in them. Thank you' she took the tea.

Ada laughed.

'It's escapism.'

'Muggle nonsense.'

'There's nothing wrong with a bit of muggle nonsense. Ask Arthur. Books are the best to lose yourself in. Gives you something you've never had, travel to unknown places or try to give you an understanding of a character you wouldn't think of getting to know. You don't have to like all the characters or their motivations. You just have to watch the story unfold. Some people can never do that because they're always the centre of attention. Sometimes that is a real hindrance.'

Hecate stared at her, wondering how it was someone so different to her could share such a similar feeling. They both lived their lives observing everyone else from the side-lines, never getting involved enough. Often she felt like it was only her watching everyone in a bubble.

'What?' Ada looked enquiring.

Hecate sipped her tea.

'I should get up. I'm being incredibly lazy lounging around in your bed.'

'Please continue. I hope that you'll feel comfortable here.'

 _And you look very pretty in my bed_ she thought. A thought that made her feel equally guilty and elated. She'd never had the chance to think it before.

Hecate glanced up at her, smiled and thanked her in answer. Ada hoped that she hadn't been too forward. She felt like Hecate had sensed her mood and hoped that she wouldn't be frightened off. She could keep her feelings under wraps for the sake of their friendship.

It seemed natural after that first Christmas, to begin to shift slightly towards each other, month by month, season by season, until the time had come for them to spend another Christmas together and this time, there was no hesitation. No hesitation in eating a late lazy breakfast without formality (Hecate briefly chastised herself for lingering on the sliver of bare skin the open collar of Ada's lilac linen pyjamas had revealed), no more hesitation sleeping in the bed that Ada offered her and no hesitation in sharing it. She'd borrowed a couple of books from her and managed to get through them by trying to see the story and characters through Ada's eyes.

'Ada?'

'Yes?'

'Come and read beside me. It seems silly that you'll go back downstairs to read.'

'Don't let me get comfortable' Ada warned, walking round to the other side of the bed. Hecate smiled secretively, turned another page. She encouraged Ada to get under the covers and promised to wake her if she got drowsy. Ada wasn't to know that she was lying.

The next morning Ada woke to a cup of tea and a pileup of cat on her bed. Hecate looked snug sitting at her feet playing with them. Ada realised that her book and glasses hadn't neatly removed themselves and knew she'd been sabotaged.

'Did you sabotage me?'

Hecate looked smug.

'I don't know what you mean.'

'Hmmph.'

Ada sat up and observed the cats.

'They've been fed' Hecate informed her quietly.

'I see.'

There was a brown sugar and cardamom biscuit sitting on the rim of the saucer. Ada had decided that year that they were her favourites. She excused herself to freshen up and when she got back, they had breakfast in bed. Hecate kept the radio on low and they munched their way through the contents of the tray she'd brought up. Neither would say no to a cheese scone.

It didn't snow that year. It didn't matter. Hecate leaned over the kitchen counter, pointed out where Ada had rolled the pastry too flat, then drew her finger to tilt the other woman's chin up. She kissed Ada's slight frown away and let the day's events meander from there. They wasted no time in their affection for each other from that point on. The books stayed on the shelf while Ada and Hecate re-enacted several of the chapters. Both confessed that they had never felt like this before. Their happiness was indestructible.

Until they read the newspaper the morning after the mass breakout from Azkaban.


	4. Chapter 4

Ada wouldn't have realised it was her until she saw the creature turn back in the light of the full moon. A face so identical that she could almost feel it was _her_ form having been changed. She felt the pain of the transformation flash past her like a knife and staggered back. How could she not have seen what Agatha was? The snarl on her face was the last vestige of werewolf and it frightened Ada that she was capable of it. What hurt the most was that she'd not felt that anything had been wrong the day that it had happened. Their twin connection had been lost over time and she could no longer feel a twinge that signalled that her sister was in trouble. She told herself that she couldn't help it, nobody asked to be bitten by Fenrir Greyback. But the thought repulsed her and Agatha knew it.

'Care to join me, sister?'

Ada shook her head, not trusting herself to speak, trying to control the tears that pricked at her eyes.

'Don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity' Agatha spat out. 'I have power you'll never have.'

'You can't want to be this depraved.'

'I've survived Azkaban. There's nothing I can't do now.'

Ada scrutinised her sister and noticed how dead behind the eyes she was. Like a shuttered window. She'd never been like that, not even at her worst. Her hands started trembling as she felt the fear creep up on her, more so when she saw Agatha's sneer. She could scent terror and Ada couldn't conceal anything from her anymore.

'I won't let you leave here without a significant change to your person. You can join me under the full moon or you can lie here dead. You choose.'

'Look what they've done to you. I don't even recognise you anymore. You're past the point of no return.'

'Decide quickly, dear sister or I shall decide for you.'

A soft footstep to the left turned their heads. Ada couldn't believe what she was seeing. Agatha's laugh was cruel and shrill.

'I should have realised your lapdog would be lurking somewhere. Although I don't think much of her approach.'

Hecate Hardbroom was standing there wielding a filthy muggle invention with menace.

'You can't be serious' snarled Agatha.

'Hecate what are you doing with that thing?' Hissed Ada.

'I hope you like the taste of metal' warned Hecate, stepping closer. She kept her eyes trained on Agatha, aiming firmly at her heart.

'How dramatic.'

Hecate shifted the gun higher up in response. Ada was frozen in shock. Where had she got it from?

'I never thought I'd see the day that Hecate Hardbroom would turn muggle.'

Ada hated that her sister had been keeping tabs on her.

'Sometimes muggles have their uses' observed Hecate. Her tone was dangerous.

'Clumsy and obvious, all of them' replied Agatha. 'You don't suit such an object. But you might suit being a beautiful black wolf. I think it would be the making of you. Perhaps I'll take you to play with instead and get rid of my sister for good.'

She bared her teeth and started to transform to her beastly shape. They both watched in horror and fascination as the grey wolf reappeared. She growled and Ada stumbled back in terror.

Hecate's response was to pull the trigger to the echo of Ada's shriek. The resulting silence lay thick and heavy over them.

When the dust had cleared, they saw what a perfect aim Hecate had. One shot to the head and the beast lay in the grass, never to open her eyes again.

Ada looked over at her deputy who had finally lowered the gun.

'Where did you get that thing from?!' Ada screamed in distress.

'A gypsy.' Hecate replied calmly, though her hands shook. She didn't elaborate further. She emptied it and displayed the gleam of the contents in her palm.

'Silver bullets. They are said to be able to kill a werewolf. I had to take the chance that they would.'

She gave Ada a minute to crouch by the body of her sister to whisper goodbye, the underserved tears soaking into her ragged fur.

'I don't like this thing but I'd use every time if I had to. I'm not your partner for nothing, Ada.'

She slotted the bullets back in and started striding back.

'And I thank you for it' whispered Ada, knowing that it carried on the wind to stream into Hecate's ear. She ran to join her and they left that cursed field for good.


End file.
